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| Tiverton : St Peter's Church cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Lewis Clarke - geograph.org.uk/p/1654824 |
In his newsletter, Peter Calver of Lost Cousins had pointed to this article, Christmas weddings in Victorian England. Having come across various Christmas Day Weddings, I had surmised - and the article confirms - that one of the less romantic reasons would have been because it was one of the few days that workers had free. As they explain, "Christmas weddings certainly happened because people were poor and had little time away from their jobs." The other, related, reason was that, "churches often offered their services free or at reduced rates on Christmas, and a flip through marriage registers shows a definite spike in the number of ceremonies performed."
A trawl through my records revealed the following bargain hunters:
Christmas Day Weddings
- Richard Ford and Maria Eliza Isabella Sweeney in 1857
- James Hockley and Elizabeth Wilton in 1870
- Peter Barton and Annie Fuller in 1873
- George Burt and Fanny Jerwood in 1884
- Lewis Jerred and Mary Elizabeth Williams in 1888
- William Edward Burton and Ellen Rosina Baker in 1888
- Robert Ware and Amelia Land in 1891
- George Fuller and Eliza Ellen Hockley in 1894
- Arthur Edward Copeland and Alice Jane Hurry in 1894
- George James Hockley and Emily Jane Jiggins in 1895
- John William Stone and Rosina Sweeney in 1902
- Arthur Woodham and Mary Matilda Sweeney in 1904
- William Kerslake and Beatrice Hoare in 1908
- George Fuller and Elsie Elizabeth Fretwell in 1919
Christmas Day Baptisms
- Richard Gollop bap. 25 Dec 1746
- Eleanor Doe bap. 25 Dec 1774
- Stephen Wilton bap. 25 Dec 1777
- Mary Summers bap. 25 Dec 1804
- John Tooze bap. 25 Dec 1806
- Richard Summers bap. 25 Dec 1807
- James Orchard bap. 25 Dec 1808
- John Shatford bap. 25 Dec 1817
- Richard Rowland bap. 25 Dec 1819
- George Goodman bap. 25 Dec 1822
- Thomas Alfred Goodman bap. 25 Dec 1825
- John Cotterell bap. 25 Dec 1831
- Mary Ann Stone bap. 25 Dec 1834
- Frederick James Stone bap. 25 Dec 1854
- James Ridgeway bap. 25 Dec 1866
- Walter Wood bap. 25 Dec 1879
- Mabel Grace, George Daniel and Amelia Mary Tompson 1890
Obviously, one has considerably less choice over being born on Christmas Day, but again I found several - although not one named Jesus.
Christmas Day Births
- William Phillips b. 25 Dec 1810
- Sarah Jane Fudge b. 25 Dec 1850
- Thomas Sweeney b. 25 Dec 1871
- Olive Martha Wilton b. 25 Dec 1872
- Ruth Christmas Dobson b. 25 Dec 1878
- Francis Stone b. 25 Dec 1887
- Stanley Victor Proudlock b. 25 Dec 1928